Parker leaned the rest of the way and kissed her. It wasn't erotic but both of them felt the jolt. "Do you think she would survive another match?" Parker pointed to Bobbie who was studying the wall like it was a fascinating piece of art.
"Do you know CPR?" Emily looked at Parker with a serious face.
"I'm more of a mouth to mouth kind of girl."
"I'll just bet. Come on, star, your groupies are taking you out to dinner." Emily gave Parker her shoe back and stole another kiss before Parker leaned down to put it on. "Clear your schedule on Saturday, Daley, we've been invited back." The happy dance the woman by the wall did almost made Parker fall off the bench she was laughing so hard.
Bobbie took a cab home alone after they had eaten, leaving Parker and Emily alone for the walk to Emily's new apartment. They had decided on a small Chinese restaurant where Parker's presence had caused pandemonium with the staff. Emily was sure their picture would be framed and hanging on the wall the next time she went in for take out.
"Will you come up for a little while?"
"You aren't getting tired of me yet?" Parker picked up their joined hands and kissed the back of Emily's.
"I was thinking that it would be you that would be bored by now." She wanted to sound confident, but Alicia up close and personal that afternoon had messed with her head.
"For someone who has taken up a lot of my thought process since this summer, you aren't very bright." Emily laughed at the insult ready to say something back when Parker bent her head and kissed her. The passion in the soft lips erased Emily's doubts. Parker King was young, but she was the person Emily had been waiting for. The one that had awoken her soul as well as other parts of her anatomy.
"Good night, sweet Emily." Parker kissed her again before letting her go.
"Please stay."
"Take some time and think about what you want. I'm not in a hurry, Emily, but for once I'm not playing around either." The distance between them, even though it was less than three feet, was unacceptable to Emily.
"My problem up to now is that I think too much, now I just want to feel what it's like to be alive. To feel like the person you see when you look at me like that." Parker forgot about her stitches and scooped Emily up and off the ground. "Just stay and hold me. We don't have to go any further than that for now," said Emily wrapping her arms around Parker's neck for the ride upstairs.
"Come on, if I could play tennis after last night, one more evening in that bed won't kill me." The cab at the corner was asked by the passenger to just wait before reaching its destination. When the couple went upstairs together the back door opened and a twenty was handed to the driver through the plexi glass partition. A disgusted sigh was expelled from the sidewalk when the bedroom light went out and the apartment was plunged into darkness.
"Soon, my darling, soon." No one heard the promise as the cab's engine muffled it out. A man walking his dog gave the person a wide berth when he passed, hoping that the menace in the person's stance wasn't directed at him.
************************************************************************
"Don't forget to pick up flowers. Women love that," shouted Gray from the bathroom. Kimmie was busy straightening Parker's collar and making sure their little sister looked her best.
"I'm not trying to score here, Viper, I'm just trying to get the girl to want to see me again."
"She's seen you plenty and the thrill isn't gone so you must be doing something right, kiddo. I think the camera crews have caught on after all the pan shots of the box yesterday. What's Captain Emily going to say when she makes the cover of the Enquirer as Alicia's replacement?" Gray was kidding but the way Parker acted around Emily let Kimmie and her know this one was different.
"Hopefully not good bye." Parker sighed not knowing how Emily would take being thrust into the limelight simply because of who she chose to date.
"No chance of that, Park. Go get the girl and tell her we said hello, and don't stay out too late. Tomorrow's a school day and Marsha Cooper wants to feed you tennis balls for lunch." Kimmie held up Parker's coat so she could finish getting dressed.
Sunday had gone at a slow pace except for her morning practice session with Natasha. Emily had left early that morning for the airport and her flight down to Miami. She was due to return at nine and had made arrangements to meet Parker in the city. After Parker's win on Saturday, both Emily and Bobbie had made arrangements to be at Monday afternoon's game. Parker had grown fond of Bobbie, laughing when the tall blonde offered to give her a kidney should she need it after the fabulous tennis she had gotten to see.
"Should I wait here, miss?" The limo pulled up to the Virgin gates and the driver was holding the door for Parker.
"This should be great, thanks. It was a round trip so I doubt she has luggage so we should be right out." Parker reached back and grabbed the two-dozen long stemmed pink roses she had ordered before getting out of the car.
"Very good, I'll see you in a few minutes."
A representative from the airline met her at the security entrance and escorted Parker to Emily's gate. The young man told her that because of a storm system over Georgia the flight had to make a detour further over the Atlantic so they were running fifteen minutes late.
The passengers started to get off and run either to pick up their luggage or catch their connections, while Parker stood up and waited for the crew to deplane. The first one into the terminal was Willy, the flight attendant that had been on the London flight she had taken home from Wimbledon. He gave her thumbs up and came to shake her hand smiling after guessing who she was there to see. He motioned for the rest of his co-workers to slow down to see how this was going to play out. Emily deserved to be seen in a different light by her crew and Willy didn't want them to miss the opportunity.
Emily stepped out after taking a minute to power down the cockpit and gather all her things. Getting back to Parker had been her main priority all day and her one wish was there wouldn't be ton of traffic heading into the city. Bobbie had promised to take care of a surprise for here once Parker left for practice and Emily hoped she had pulled it off.
"Excuse me, stewardess, could I bother you for some hot chocolate?" The rumbly voice made Emily snap her head up and look toward the waiting area seats. Parker was standing there looking like a Ralph Lauren model holding a bouquet of roses, and the sight made Emily's heart melt. Romantic notions had not been one of her former partner's traits. Without thought for where she was nor for Parker's injury, Emily ran the short distance, jumped on Parker and gave her a scorching kiss. The only thing that broke their lips apart was the applause coming from the shocked crew led by Willy.